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This question was asked before by someone like you. Here is the answer I gave to that person:
NYC is expensive even for middle-income people. Most likely you will be living in Queens or Brooklyn. Manhattan is full of rich and poor people.
Monthly Bills and Expenses (2008 dollars)
Studio Apartment: $1500.
Utilities (gas and electricity): $150.
Subway/bus fares: $124 ($4/rountrip for 31 days).
Food: $300.
Life Insurance: $50.
Clothes: $60.
Miscellaneous: $200.
Total: $2384
That means you must make about $2384 per month after taxes. Or you must make about $28608 per year after taxes.
A lot of people do not make that much money when they are starting out in their careers. That is why a lot of young people are staying with their parents or sharing an apartment with a roommate. New York is not cheap but this is approximately what you would need, as a minimum, to live comfortably. Just as comparison, it would cost approximately $350,000 (before taxes) for a married couple with one child to live comfortably in a two bedroom apartment (Queens or Brooklyn). $350,000 is not a lot of money in New York City.
Sure there are other places that you can live cheaper but there is a huge trade-off and it is usually not in a better neighborhood. Crime is still a problem in poor and lower middle-income neighborhoods. I don’t think you want to live in a housing project or a subsidized home.
New York City is approximately 440 square miles (land and water) and is broken into five boroughs – Manhattan, Brooklyn, Bronx, Staten Island, and Queens. New York City is not just Manhattan, it is all five boroughs! It is an insult to New York City residents when people say the real city is in Manhattan. Again, the real city is all five boroughs.
New York City has real people who are from all over. This means they are no nonsense people. Most of them are not mean spirited or evil but they have to go to work or school and do not have the time to play mind games with people.
With the exceptions of some police movies and TV shows, there is no TV show or movie that accurately portrays NYC life. They are just for fantasy and entertainment.
Don’t expect a lot of things to happen to you for the better. New York City is that way; it forces everyone to be direct and upfront with important things. Go to school with the intention of learning and trying to do the best academically. You are not going to school to socialize, find a boyfriend or girlfriend, looking cool in attitude or fashion, or even just partying. You are going to school simply to learn. You will find out that most of the students are transient people to you and could care less if you are popular or not.
If you have that mind set and don’t expect a lot social gratification then you will do fine in the City. If you end up with one or two friends then you are doing okay.
But New York can be intimidating so don’t get upset or depressed. People at first seem cold and uninviting. But after awhile you will see decent people who are just trying to make a living. If you ever move to Manhattan then try exploring the other four boroughs – where the real New York City residents live. That alone will surpass any night life Manhattan has to offer.
Places to live in Queens are Forest Hills, Bayside, Glen Oaks, Douglaston, Little Neck, Fresh Meadows, parts of Flushing, parts of Elmhurst, and Rego Park.
Wow, this was a well thought out description of the actual way things are in NYC. It was descriptive of what an actual budget needs to approximate, but you left out ANY auto expenses, and the tickets you get when you forget to move on alternate-side-parking days. Also, how come no one has mentioned that if you live in Jackson Heights, close to 24 ave and 79 st or Astoria blvd and 82 st, when it rains or gets cloudy, the planes into LaGuardia have to use ILS. A plane comes in so close over your head, you can throw a rock up and hit it. You can see what color the pilot's eyes are. On the flip side, when the US Open is in town, they send the planes OUT from that runway. Sounds like carpet bombing.
Also, how come no one has mentioned that if you live in Jackson Heights, close to 24 ave and 79 st or Astoria blvd and 82 st, when it rains or gets cloudy, the planes into LaGuardia have to use ILS. A plane comes in so close over your head, you can throw a rock up and hit it. You can see what color the pilot's eyes are. On the flip side, when the US Open is in town, they send the planes OUT from that runway. Sounds like carpet bombing.
The areas you are talking about (24th Ave and Astoria Blvd) are not in Jackson Heights. That area is East Elmhurst.
Ozone Park area is nice, too. If you're racist like some people on this forum, you might not like the large West Indian/Indian population, but I also feel safe there at night, as it is a very family-oriented area (with tons of cheap, good food).
Actually that makes me very interested in Ozone Park!
Not the kids who go to the public schools there, though.
Is it that bad? I have never lived over there, but I have heard things are starting to go downhill. The thing is you have nice homes, which are well kept. I guess some people still act rowdy no matter where there surroundings are!!
i was born and lived in Astoria till about age 10.
i lived in East Elmhurst (where my parents live now) from age 10 - 20, but went to magnet schools in Flushing/Bayside.
i lived on campus in West Village (went to NYU) for a year
then lived in a brownstone on Forest Hills - Rego Park -Corona border from age 20 - 25.
i got tired of parking problems in all of the above and moved to where i live now, a 4 bedroom house in Holliswood, alone, from age 25 - 30 (present).
i have never rented, i have always owned.
----
Astoria and East Elmhurst were closest to Manhattan for me
Forest Hills, Rego Park, Douglaston, and Bayside seemed the most pleasant to raise a family on a generous income
Bellerose Fresh Meadows and Holliswood seem nice places to raise a family on a smaller income
Jackson Heights, Corona, Elmhurst, Long Island City, Astoria are extremely cramped for space, parking, and and hectic. and noisy.
Everywhere in NYC including Queens is noticeably littered/dirty. in many towns of Queens you will now find small single fam homes being lived in by upwards of 30-40 persons. usually migrant/underdocumented people from somewhere south of the border.
the subway system is disgusting and a risk of life to travel in. i can't believe i did for some 10 years, and never would except for maybe a brief visit or dash between stops.
for the past few months i have decided to relocate out of NYC as soon as i sell my home in this terrible market and experience a new state/city.
property tax is out the roof and the city continues to tax each house or apartment based on an assesment that is almost double the amount houses in Queens are now selling for!!
nyc tax/ dept of finance is a huge bigtime scam. judges are just now starting to come out about it.
Location: Concrete jungle where dreams are made of.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by brooklynight
Is it that bad? I have never lived over there, but I have heard things are starting to go downhill. The thing is you have nice homes, which are well kept. I guess some people still act rowdy no matter where there surroundings are!!
I don't live in the area, but my friend teaches in the middle school and high school there. She said the school is a nightmare. The kids are out of control, the school can't control them, they don't care what goes on, etc. It sounds like mostly an administration problem more than the kids. I'm sure the kids would behave if there was some control in the school. Just saying that the schools there aren't too good.
the subway system is disgusting and a risk of life to travel in. i can't believe i did for some 10 years, and never would except for maybe a brief visit or dash between stops.
In 40 years of riding the subway I've only seen one incident. It's not the Queen Mary and it's not supposed to be. It usually gets you to your destination cheaply and efficiently if not in the lap of luxury.
Quote:
Originally Posted by karm
property tax is out the roof and the city continues to tax each house or apartment based on an assesment that is almost double the amount houses in Queens are now selling for!!
nyc tax/ dept of finance is a huge bigtime scam. judges are just now starting to come out about it.
The tax on my house I sold in 07 for $650k was $3200. That's less than half what it would be just about anywhere in the Northeast.
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